Replay
by Ripslinger
Summary: Jet's having a bad day... And then has another... And then another. Actually, they're all the same day.


Replay  
  
Let's see. Disclaimer. I suppose I have to write a disclaimer. I own Wild Arms 3. What? I do! Seriously! I have a receipt! I paid twenty books for it!  
  
Day 1  
  
Though they were a ragtag group, they had seen more action than most veteran drifter teams could ever dream of. They had saved the world many times over, befriended a dragon, and had traveled ever inch of Filgaia. So the task of exterminating a monster was something of a step down for them but work was work and money was money. At least that's what one member of the group would often contest to. They had entered the desert wasteland, intent on eliminating the monster and returning before the day was done. The massive poison spewing lizard-like monster they encountered ruined any hopes of a short day, as it proved more difficult to take down than previously expected.  
  
"This isn't working!" Jet Enduro cried, rolling to avoid a swipe of the monster's claws.  
  
"What makes you think that, punk?" Gallows spat as he shoved more shells into his modified Coyote M17F, "Just because we've been fighting this thing all day?"  
  
Two shots rang in the air as Clive unloaded his massive Gungnir HAG35. The shots did not have the effect he had anticipated, ricocheting off the monster's armor-like hide.  
  
"We have to rethink our strategy," Clive noted, "Perhaps a spell might be more effective?"  
  
"Damn!" Jet Enduro cursed as he looked to his side. A young woman, having been felled earlier from a blast of the monster's poisonous breath, lay not too far away. From what he could see, her condition was deteriorating considerably. "Whatever we do, we have to do it fast!"  
  
"I'm on it," Gallows affirmed, his body glowing with the power he drew from his invoked guardian Schturdark, "Refrigerate!"  
  
The temperature spiked drastically around the serpent, ice forming from the moisture in the air to encase the monster. The three drifters stared at the trapped monster, uncertain as to whether victory was theirs.  
  
"Did we get it?" Gallows asked tentatively.  
  
A low rumbling was his answer.  
  
"Look out!" Clive warned, shielding his face with his arms and his ARM.  
  
The frozen cage around the monster shattered, sending slivers of ice flying in all directions. The monster roared furiously and lashed out at Gallows with its thick tail, knocking the Baskar priest off his feet as well as unconscious. He landed unceremoniously a few feet from where he once stood, his body crumpled in an unnatural position.  
  
"Gallows!" Clive rushed to meet his injured friend but was met halfway with a mighty blast of poison and a lightning quick slash of sharpened claws.  
  
Jet clenched his fist tightly. "Come on, Clive. Get up," he murmured, willing the older man to rise from his downed position.  
  
Clive slowly staggered to his feet, using his weapon as a makeshift crutch. He coughed violently, falling to his knees as the monster closed in on him.  
  
With the fate of his friends' lives bearing down heavily on him, Jet Enduro snapped into action. He raised a battle cry and rushed the monster, firing off the remaining rounds of his Airget-lamh B/V2, desperately trying to draw attention away from the injured sniper.  
  
His tactic had worked; the monster had twisted its concentration to the attacking drifter. Flipping agilely backwards, Jet managed to avoid having his stomach shredded by the serpent's claws. He pulled the trigger to his Airget-lamh B/V2 and received an ominous click.  
  
Knowing his weapon would not be enough to ensure victory this time around anyway, Jet Enduro weighed the options in his mind, the different spells he was capable of casting. Weaken, Status Lock, Requiem, Copy Ability, Banish, Reset, and Replay. The monster certainly seemed alive rendering Requiem completely useless and with the luck they've been having, Jet crossed off the Banish spell from his list. He didn't even know what the last two spells really did.  
  
Jet cursed himself mentally, wishing he had paid more attention when Gallow's grandmother explained the different spells the guardians granted him when invoked.  
  
"Damn!" Jet cursed again, this time out loud as he avoided another swipe. The serpent was more or less upon him and without any ammo Jet knew that he had no definite way to defend himself.  
  
The monster lunged almost catching Jet in its maws but the skilled drifter managed to kick off the monster's head. Leaving the monster dazed, he made a mad dash towards Clive, who was now in a sitting position.  
  
"I don't have any good spells!" he shouted hoarsely when he reached the green haired drifter.  
  
"Try anything," Clive urged through clenched teeth, his right hand feebly attempting to halt the gushing blood from his wounded shoulder, "With each passing moment, our chances for survival are diminishing."  
  
Only two words flashed through Jet's mind as he furiously tried to recall what their different effects were.  
  
Reset. Replay. Reset. Replay. Reset.  
  
His reverie was cut short as the monster launched another blast of poison in his direction  
  
"Replay!"  
  
Jet gritted his teeth, drawing on the powers of his invoked medium. He could feel time warping, bending, even breaking. The rupture of space-time unfortunately did not affect the stream of poison as it struck Jet dead on, sending burning waves of pain through his body.  
  
Jet fell to his knees, clutching his stomach tightly. He knew the poison was fatal if he could feel it breaking him apart so quickly. He glanced behind him, noting sadly that Clive was no longer breathing.  
  
"Heh, so this is how it's going to end." Jet tried his best to stare defiantly at the monster approaching him but the poison wracking his body would not let him. His vision was failing him and he could barely make out the setting sun's dying light glinting off the monster's fangs. Sighing, he closed his eyes and waited, knowing he would not survive the day.. And he waited. And then waited some more.  
  
When nothing came, Jet Enduro warily opened one eye and then the other. He was no longer in the desert wasteland facing a rampaging monster but in a familiar room, in an all too familiar bed. Stunned, the young drifter sat up straight, a little too quickly for his own good.  
  
"A dream?" he asked himself, holding his head in his hands, "It couldn't have been a dream, could it?"  
  
Startled, he almost jumped out of his bed when he heard the door to his room creak open.  
  
"Good morning, Jet," Virginia chirped, stepping into the room, "Did you sleep well?"  
  
Jet stared at the young woman, violet eyes wide as she moved to the only window of the room, pulling the curtains apart to let in the rays of the morning sun. It was when she turned to face the silver haired drifter that she noticed that Jet was staring intently at her. Virginia Maxwell could feel her cheeks burning under the intense gaze.  
  
"Something wrong, Jet?" she asked meekly, shifting her stance uneasily.  
  
"Weren't we," Jet paused for a moment before continuing, "Weren't we just fighting a monster?"  
  
Virginia tilted her head to one side. "A monster?"  
  
"Yeah. We were getting beat pretty badly," Jet admitted hesitantly.  
  
"Oh Jet, it was just a dream." She playfully mussed his already untidy hair, ignoring the young man's protests. "Now come on down. Auntie has breakfast all ready."  
  
Virginia laughed lightly at the sulking drifter and quickly stepped out of the room as a pillow went flying in her general direction. "Remember, we have a job to do today."  
  
"A dream," Jet mused to himself, falling back into the soft recesses of his bed, "Heh, guess it was just a dream." 


End file.
